Rotary engine.



I I II a No. 687,|70. Patented Nov. l9, I901.

H. A.- STILSGN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

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N0. 687,|70. V Patented NOV. 19, 190i.

H. A. STILSDN.

ROTARY ENGINE. (Appiication filed Nov. 8, 1900.) (No Model.) 3Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 687,l70. Patented Nov. I9, 190].

H. A. STILSUN, ROTARY ENGINE. (A flication flle'd Nov. 8, 1900. (NoModel.)

k "HI H M W 7/ m2 G 'J/=- f a; llillii ."HI IHIIIIH m g I HEIIIIIIIIIIHH g L f a W596 HOTO LKTHOH WASHINGTDN. D- C I NITED STATESHERBERT/l. STILSON, OF TAMPICO, ILLINOIS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters IPatent No. 687,170, datedNovember 19, 1901.

Application filed November 8. 1900- Serial No. 35,798. (No model.)

, To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT A. STILSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tampico, in the county of Whiteside and State of Illinois,have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines and Pumps,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to rotary engines and pumps of thetype employing a central rotary core and a fixed external casing orcylinder.

My object is to provide a machine of this type of generally-improvedconstruction, particular attention being paid to simplicity ofconstruction, balancing of parts, and to securing a minimum of frictionand a minimum of jar or pounding of parts.

In the preferred construction, which will be minutely described tofacilitate an under standing of the invention, I employ a cylinderhaving an eccentric bore, a rotating core within said bore and eccentricthereto and supported on a shaft journaled concentric with the core, afixed eccentric through which the shaft extends and which is preferablyformed integrally with a cylinder end, and a vane or piston memberoperated from said eccentric and having an antifriction-bearing in saidcore and projecting during a portion of the revolution into the annularor partiallyannular steam-ch amber afforded between said core and theinner wall of said cylinder.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a transverse verticalsection taken as indicated at line 1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a longitudinalhorizontal section taken as indicated at line 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, aview in side elevation; Fig. 4, aview of two eccentric straps or ringsemployed and vanes or piston members connected therewith; Fig. 5, a viewat right angles to the view of Fig. 4; and Figs. 6 and 7 perspectiveviews of two antifrictionbearings employed for receiving the vanes orpiston members.

It may be stated at the outset that the accompanying drawings illustratethe construction which it is preferred to employ for use in asteam-engine having two steam chambers orcylinders, the correspondingparts of which are separated by an angle of one hundred and eightydegrees.

A represents a rotating shaft supported in journal-boxes A A B, a baseWhereon are supported standards for said journal-boxes; O,'a fixedcasing or double cylinder supported from said base; 0 O ends for saidcasing having central openings for the shaft A and provided thereat withpacking-boxes a and provided on their interior surfaceswithintegrally-formed piston-member hearings or pivots b b, eccentric tothe shaft Aand having their prominences separated by an angle of onehundred and eighty degrees; D, D, and D fixed rings forming thecircumferential wall of the cylinder 0 and rigidly secured between thecylinder ends C O by bolts 0; E, E, and E disks rigidly secured to theshaftAand constituting the m'ain portion of the rotating core, the disksE and E being provided on their faces toward the ends of the cylinderwith'annular flanges d 61; G G, piston mem bers or vanes for one of thesteam-chambers, said members being provided with eccentricrings f fjournaled on the eccentric b; H H, piston members for the othersteam-chamber, said members being provided with eccentricrings g g,journaled on the eccentric b, rollerbearings being provided for each ofthe four eccentric-rings mentioned; I I, antifriction-bearings'journaled in the section E of the rotating core and receiving pistonmembers G G, respectively; J J, antifriction-bearings journaled in thesection E of the rotating core and receiving the piston members H H,respectively; K K, pipes or ports leading to the chamber formed betweenthe flange d of the core-section E and the surrounding wall of thecylinder; L L, pipes or ports leading to the chamber formed between theflange d of the core-section E and the surrounding wall of the cylinder;M M, annular core sections or rings secured to the flanges d d of thecore-sections E E by bolts h, and N N oil ducts or tubes communicatingwith annular spaces It within the rings M M and supplied from a commonoil-fountain N The construction of the piston members and theautifriction-bearings therefor, with which the rotating core issupplied, is shown in Figs. 4 to 7 ,inclusive. Each piston member has afluid-engaging portion Z of a width equal to the width of thecylinder-sections D D, which is the same as that of the periph-.

eral portion of the core-sections E E Extending inwardly from the part Zis a reduced part Z, the width of which is equal to about twice thewidth of each eccentric-ring. Fig. 5 shows the manner in which theeccentricrings lie side by side when mounted on their pivot or hearing,being separated, however, by a washer f Each core-carried pistonmemberbearing comprises a short cylindrical part provided with a longitudinalslot 171, which receives the outer end of a piston memher and virtuallydivides the cylindrical hearing into two parts, which are connected by aweb m. One of the bearings is shown in section in Fig. 5 to illustrateclearly the manner in which the slot m receives the outer end of thepiston member. From this view it will be observed that the part Z of thepiston member has a shoulder m which approaches closely to a shoulder mof the part on in one position of the piston member. In Fig. 1 the outerend of the piston member G is shown sheathed in the hearing I and theouter end of the piston member G is shown projecting beyond the hearingI and into the steamchamber. Each piston member is provided, Fig. 2,with a packing-piece n, which serves to make a tight joint at one edgeof the outer portion of the piston member and also at the outer end ofthe piston member. Each piston member is also provided with an edgepacking-piece n, which preferably has a loose tenon-and-mortisejointwiththe adjacentend of the piece a, as illustrated in dotted lines at n inFig. 2. Springs are provided for pressing the packing-pieces outwardly.

As shown in Fig. 1, the pivotal bearings for the outerends of the pistonmembers are journaled in sockets provided therefor near the peripheriesof the core-sections E and E and the adjacent portions of thecore-sections are suitably slotted to receive said piston members andpermit a certain relative movement between each piston member and thecoresection, as will be hereinafter explained. It will be observed fromFig. 2 that the outer ends of the piston members are of the same widthas the pressure-chambers,and that consequently the peripheral or flangedportions of the core-sections E E are cut entirely through. The centralrelatively thin portions of said core-sections, however, are notrecessed, and the web portions of the pistoninember bearings correspondto said thin portions. The sockets for the bearings mentioned areprovided with packings p for the outer surfaces of said bearings, andpackings p are provided at the walls of the slot 177. for making a tightjoint between said walls and the piston members received by the walls.In Fig. 4 I have shown the piston members provided with studs g, whichproject into slots q in the packing-pieces n 01, thereby limiting theradial movement of said pieces during that portion of the revolutionwhen the packing does not contact with the inner wall of the cylinder.Oircu m f erential packings g (1 g g are provided to prevent lateralescape of steam from the steam-chambers.

Assuming steam to be admitted through the pipes K and L, the engine willrotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. From a view ofthis figure it will be understood that the shaft A and the core carriedthereby rotate about the center 0', whereas the bearings of the pistonmembers G and G have their center at r. The piston members G G are shownlocated directly opposite to each other in the position they occupy whenthe core is in the position shown in Fig. 1. As the core is rotatedunder the action of fluid-pressure upon the piston members, it isobvious that the piston members must change their position in somedegree with relation to the core. Thus the center line of the pistonmember G in the position of Fig. 1 is as indicated by the dotted line 0"1*, which corresponds with a radius r r of the core. Assuming the coreto be rotated through an angle of ninety degrees, it will be obviousthat the center line of the piston member will be indicated by the line7* r whereas a radius of the core is indicated by a line 0' r Reflectionwill show that only when the center lines of the piston memberscorrespond with the line joining the center of the core with the centerof the piston member bearings are the piston members exactly one hundredand eighty degrees from each other.

In the preferred construction the outer wall of the steam-chamber has atrue circular formation for a portion of its extent only. Thus in Fig. 1the portion of the wall represented by r r r is of true circular form,and the portion of the wall to the left thereof is recessed or out belowa true circle. The wallsection 1* r r is concentric with thepistoninember hearing I). It follows that the piston members willcontact with said wall throughout its true circular portion and be heldout of contact therewith through the remainder of the revolution. Thepurpose of recessing the wall at the admission side of the chamber istwofoldfirst, to prevent throttling oi the steam or fluid, and, second,to permit the passage of the fluid past the piston member which happensto be adjacent to the recess. The abutments of the two steam-chambersoccur at points .9 s, which, as clearly inclicated in Fig. 2, areseparated by an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees. Springheldpackingblocks .9 s are provided at these abutments. These blocks haveconcave inner surfaces and bear continuously against the adjacentsurfaces of the coresections E E The dotted line i 1" indicates the pathof the end of the piston member G during a rotation of ninety degreesfrom the position shown in Fig. 1, and it will be observed from thisview how gradual is the approach of the piston member into contact withthe wall of the steamchamber. It will be understood that while thepiston member G is passing through the are H a portion of the steam orother motive fluid admitted through the pipe K e'scapes past said pistonmember and acts upon the piston member G. The pressure upon the pistonmember G gradually increases until the point r is nearly reached, bywhich time the piston member G has reached the point r and is aboutready to release the pressure behind it. From the point r to the point rthe increase of pressure upon the piston member G is gradual, owing tothe gradual increase of the exposed surface of said piston member. Whilepressure is being admitted at the pipe K and the pipe K is serving as anexhaust-pipe, pressure is being admitted at the pipe L for the otherpressurechamber, and the pipe L is serving as an exhaust-pipe for saidchamber. As the corresponding parts of the duplicate steam-chambers andcore-sections are located at an angle of one hundred and eighty degreesto each other, it follows that the pressures as well as the weights areevenly balanced.

It will be understood that any desired motive-fluid may be employed forrunning the engine, and also experience has shown that by applying powerto the shaft the construction described will serve readily as a rotarypump, producing practically a continuous flow. The engine is wellbalanced, compact, free from pounding, and capable of attaining andmaintaining its most economical speed. It will be observed that the oilsupplied to the machine cannot escape by reason of the packings Ct, andthe working parts may be caused to run practically in a bath of oil.

While I have shown no reversing-valves and no automatic cut-0E, it isobvious that such devices may be readily applied to the engine, andwhere reversing-valves are employed it is obvious that the set of pipesK L may act as eduction-pipes, while the pipes K L act asinduction-pipes.

Many minor changes in details of construction within the spirit of myinvention may be made by those skilled in the art, and hence nolimitation is intended by the foregoing description except as shallappear from the appended claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Ina machine of the character described,

the combination of a cylinder having two coreopenings eccentric to eachother, a core eccentric to both said openings, and piston members insaid core-openings and having bearings in said core and located at anangle to each other, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a cylinder-section having a true circular innerwall-section, an.

abutment opposite the same and ports flanking said abutment, a shafteccentric to said wall section, a core-section concentric with saidshaft, a fixed bearing eccentric to said shaft, a piston memberjournaled thereon, a core-carried bearing for said piston member,

a second cylinder-section having a true circular inner wall-section, anopposite abutment, and ports flanking said abutment, saidparts being atan angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees to thecorresponding parts of the first cylinder-section, a second fixedbearing eccentric to said shaft and with its prominence at substantiallyone hundred and eighty degrees from the corresponding eccentric, asecond eccentrically-mounted piston member, and a core-carried bearingtherefor at an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees to thecorresponding bearing of the other core-section, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of a cylinder having a true inner circularwall-section, a rotating core eccentric to said wall-section, a fixedbearing concentric with said wall-section, a piston member G journaledon said bearing, a pivotal bearing I receiving said piston member andjournaled in said core, the same having a longitudinal slot 1% andconnectingweb m, an abutment opposite said wall-section, and portsflanking said abutment, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a cylinder, an eccentrically-located core-sectionE provided with a peripheral flange d, a bearing eccentric to saidshaft, a piston member jonrnaled on said bearing and passing through aslot in said flange, means for confining fluid between the periphery ofsaid core-section and the internal wall of said cylinder, and a slottedpivotal bearing receiving said piston member and journaled in saidcore-section near the periphery thereof, said pivotal bearing havin glongitudinal sections connected by a web, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

5. The combination of a cylinder, core-sections E, E placedeccentrically with relation to the openings therefor in said cylinderand having ontturned peripheral flanges, means for confining fluidbetween the peripheries of said core-sections and the adjacent walls ofsaid cylinder, a shaft concentric with and rigidly connecting both saidcore-sections, fixed bearings eccentric to said shaft, piston membersjournaled on said bearings and extending through slots in said flanges,and pivotal bearings for said piston members journaled in saidcore-sections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination ofcore-sections E, E, M, a piston member moving in a slot in the sectionE, a bearing in said section at said slot for said piston member,cylinder-sections D, D,

a cylinder end 0 rigidly connected with the sections D, D, an eccentricb on said end C and pivotally connected with said piston member, and ashaft projecting through said cylinder end and rigidly connected withsaid core-sections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of cylinder sections D, D, D the sections D and Dhaving bores eccentric to each other, core-sections E, E, E

with a slot receiving a piston member, a pis- 15' ton member G, a pivotconnected with the inner end thereof, a bearing I journaled in said corenear the periphery thereof and having a slot coinciding with the slotsin said core,

packing-strips 'n, n for the edges of said pis- 20 ton member, andpacking-strips between said piston member and the Walls of the slot inthe bearing 1, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HERBERT A. STILSON. In presence of D. W. LEE, A. D. BACCI.

